Page:The National Geographic Magazine Vol 16 1905.djvu/173

Rh cigars will compare favorably with the best Habana cigars. No estimate can be made at this time of the productiveness of the islands in hemp, inasmuch as it grows wild as well as under cultivation, and there are many acres of wild hemp which have never been touched; moreover, the methods employed in stripping hemp are of the crudest kind. This valuable crop and its full development merely await the influence of American invention and capital.

As compared with the total area of the islands, the amount of land under culti- vation is small, but it should be remem- bered that the islands of Mindoro, Para- gua,and Mindanao, which are among the largest of the group, are very little cul- tivated. Again, the methods followed, including the implements in use, are most crude, and something better must be substituted before the yield will equal the production of intelligent American farmers. Rotation in the crops, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers are almost unknown, nature receiving but little aid from artificial means.

No better illustration of the salubrity and healthfulness of the climate of the Philippine Islands could be given than that afforded by the health report of the army, both in war and peace. This shows conclusively that, under the intelligent management of our medical staff and the care bestowed on the soldiers by their regimental and company officers, men who are in good health when they arrive in the Philippines, and who observe the health rules laid down for their guidance, are, on the whole, as nearly immune from disease as within the territory of the United States. The statistics of the Surgeon General of the Army show that for the calendar year 1902 the number of soldiers constantly sick in the United States was 5.33 per eent of the command, and in 1903, 4.85 per cent ; in the Philippines, for the same period, the percentage of con- stantly sick was 6.88 and 6.62, respect- ively, an average difference of 1.66 per cent. That long exposure to the climate is enervating there can be no doubt, but the effect is easily avoided by periodical changes to a colder climate. This has been conclusively proven by the old Scotch, English, and other white resi- dents of the islands, who, after a resi- dence of over forty years, broken by such removals, enjoy excellent health. For- merly it was necessary to take a sea voy- age in order to find relief, but with the completion of the electric railroad at Baguio, in the province of Benguet, this will no longer be needful, as the climate at that altitude will afford the requisite change.

Nothing that has been done by the In- sular government deserves more com- mendation or reflects more credit on the administration than the measures taken to arrest and stamp out cholera, bu- bonic plague, and smallpox, to prevent the spread of leprosy, and to teach the natives how to guard against the dread diseases, tuberculosis, dysentery, and malarial fever. Only those acquainted with the native character and the in- sanitary conditions formerly prevailing everywhere, and particularly in Manila, can fully appreciate what has been done or that many years must pass before a majority of the native population will recognize the benefit of medical treat- ment and adopt sanitary rules. On the other hand, a large part of the popula- tion has already been benefited, and the experience thus gained is sure to be in- fluential. A serious feature in the mortality